Rules
by RahmEmanuel
Summary: An eight-year-old Sherlock professes his love to his brother. Mycroft lays down some ground rules.


When Sherlock had declared his love for me on my fourteenth birthday, I thought it nothing more than the product of a childish infatuation. When, on the other hand, he continued to insist the point for the next three months, I could only conclude that he was, in fact, quite serious.

So, it came time to take into consideration how, exactly, I would go about dealing with this... "issue". There was, of course, one question that took precedence over all else, namely, did I return his feelings?

I pondered this for quite some time. It was true that, with the exception of my scholarly efforts, I had nothing outside of my brother. He was the only one that I felt comfortable conversing with as myself; the only one, in fact, capable of understanding me. He was, far and away, the only one for whom I would give up all that I was.

And so, I concluded, it didn't matter whether or not what I felt for him was love, or something entirely different. Whatever emotions I held, those were as strong of feelings as I was capable of having, and it would be pointless not to act upon them.

He was curled up in my bed, engrossed in a book, when I finally found him. Upon hearing my entry, he straightened up, closed the book and beamed at me. "Hey Mikey."

I smiled slightly, and sat down next to him. "Hello, 'Lock. I need to speak with you."

He nodded slowly, in a particularly sombre way, having picked up on my serious tone and adjusting his expression accordingly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, not in the least. However, I think that, if you still wish a relationship between the two of us-"

He widened his eyes and clung to me. "I do!"

I gave him a light smack on the head. "Don't interrupt me." He stuck out his tongue, but otherwise backed off, allowing me to continue. I cleared my throat. "As I was saying... if you still wish a relationship between the two of us, I need to lay down some ground rules."

There was another nod, and I shifted position so as to more easily look him in the eyes. "Rule one- No one, absolutely no one, is to know."

"Why not?"

I paused. It never even occurred to me that 'Lock wouldn't understand that a romantic relationship between family members was considered inappropriate. "Sherlock... you... you do know that it's wrong for brothers-"

He nodded quickly. "I'm not stupid, My. I just... why do we care if other people think it's bad?"

It was a fair question, and one that necessitated an explanation. "Our futures, 'Lock. I... I plan on working for the government, you know. If anyone knew..." Another nod, and I'm sure that my relief was visible. It would have been far too easy for him to take it the wrong way, to think that I was saying that I was putting my career before him, but he seemed to understand.

I would have continued on this rather unsavoury train of thought, had his next question not shaken me out of it. "What's the second rule?"

"The second rule... it has to do with the first rule. It's... we can't do anything romantic in public." I nodded pointedly, awaiting a response, silently thankful that he seemed to be taking everything in so easily.

"Okay. What's the third?"

"The third rule... I... you need to know... you can... you can stop whenever you want. No matter what, if you... if you want this to be over..." I was unable to finish the sentence, both due to the rising emotion that had somehow gotten past my defences, and due to the soft lips that were pressed against my own.

The kiss was nice, gentle and comforting and loving and _Sherlock_. I felt his skinny arms wrap tightly around me, so that, even when the kiss was broken, the distance between us remained, well, nonexistent.

"Mikey... I'm never gonna want this to end..."

I smiled in spite of myself, finding myself running the fingers of one hand through his dark curls, and, after such an emotionally charged conversation, the simplicity of the action was calming for the both of us.

Slowly, so as not to surprise him, I allowed myself to lower back onto the bed, until such a point at which I was flat on my back with my brother curled up comfortable on my chest. It was so relaxing, having him like that... It was amazing, the release that I felt, just by giving into something that I hadn't even known that I was fighting.

"I'm never going to want this to end, either."


End file.
